Railway-rail joint.



No. 808,509. PATBNTED DEC. 26, 1905. H. C. BREWSTER, 0. A. DUTHERAGE a Wwf... GLIDDEN. RAILWAY RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED APR.20. 1905.

V/71 a A Ig?? wwf "MMT /A/z/E/vms w HA@ my C. BREWS-r-ER I e CHARLES ADuTHERAcsl- L/IW WALTER I ,GLIDDEN ENTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

HARRY C. BREWSTER, CHARLES A. DUTHERAGE, AND WALTER L.V GLIDDEN, OF SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA.

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented nee. 26, 1905.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY C. BREwsTER, CHARLES A. DUTHEEAGE, and WALTER L. GLIDDEN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Shreveport, in the parish of Caddo and State of Louisiana, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Rail Joints, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention is an improved means for connecting and supporting the meeting ends of railway-rails. It is more particularly an improvement in forms of truss connections and braces in which slidable wedges are employed to enable the parts to be readily tightened in order to preserve a rigid or unyielding support for the rails.

The details of construction,v arrangement, and combination of parts are as hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view illustrating our improved rail-joint. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same on the line 2 2, of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is avertioal cross-section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. two wedges forming part of the rail-joint. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the base-plate upon which the rail end runs.

The alined rails A A are constructed in the usual manner.

B B (see especially Fig. 3) indicate two fishplates, which are secured to the rail ends Aby bolts C in the usual manner. These fishplates proper have lateral and downward eX- tensions or flanges B, whose lower ed es are providedwith holes to receive a series o crossbolts D.

The rail endsArest and are supportedupon a base-plate E, whose end portions are enlarged or extended laterally, as shown in Fig. 5, and provided with notches e to receive spikes F, that fasten them to the sleepers G, as shown in Fig. A1. This fastening is necessary in order to prevent the rails moviilgl or creeping, especially on an incline. As w' be understood from the drawings, the eXtensions or flanges B of the fish-plates fit between the shoulders e of the base-plate E, so that the base-plate and rail ends are prevented from moving on each other save to a very limited extent.

Between the base-plate E and the crossbolts D, which connect the lower edges of the Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the flanges B are arranged two wedges H and 'H. The upper wedge H is provided with anges B of the fish-plates diverge laterally to a slight degree instead of being parallel, but they are drawn toward each other, and thus reach .or approximate a parallel position by tightening the nuts of the bolts D. It is apparent that the same operation forces the wedges H H laterally in such way that they slide or ride on each other, and thus tend to force the base-plate E and rail ends A upward, or, in other words, to tighten the parts composing the entire rail-joint.

It will be seen from the construction, arrangement, 'and combination of parts described we provide a very strong and rigid connection and brace or truss for the meeting ends of the rails, and one which may be quickly and easily adjusted Whenever it is required to tighten the connection still further.

We make provision for bonding the rail ends A electrically as occasion may require. To this end we provide the base-plate E (see Fig. 5) with a longitudinal groove e2 in its upper side, the same having its ends considerably enlarged, as shown. A copper or other wire I (see Fig. 2) is laid in this groove c2 and its ends project up through the holes in the base of the rail ends A. The enlarged ends of the groove e2 will allow slight shifting or endwise movement of the rail ends without any danger of the wire I being cut or otherwise inure J Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with alined rail ends, of fish-plates having lateral and downwardlyextended flanges, cross-bolts connecting the fish-plates and rails, and other bolts connecting the lower edges of their flanges, a baselate and wedges arranged between the railases and the lower row of cross-bolts, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with alined rail ends,

of fish-plates which are secured to the ends of IOO the rail, and having lateral and downward extensions, transverse bolts connecting the lower edges of said flanges, and the latter diverging laterally from vertical planes, and wedges interposed between the said bolts and the bases of the rails, substantially as described, whereby, upon tightening the nuts on the said bolts the wedges are caused to slide upon each other to a corresponding degree, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with alined rail ends and ties supporting the same and spaced apart, of fish-plates having lateral and down# wardly extending flanges, a base plate arranged beneath the ends of the rails and having its enlarged ends secured t6 the ties, crossbolts c'onnecting the lower edges of the flanges and wedges interposed between the bolts and base-plate, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with alined railends and ties upon which the same rest, of a baseplate which is spiked to the ties and having a body portion of less width than its ends, fishplates having flanges extending downward in the space between the heads of the baseplate, transverse bolts securing the lower edges of the flanges, and wedges interposed between the said bolts and the base-plate, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with alined rail ends, and fish-plates extending downward, and having other pendent portions connected by cross-bolts, of wedges interposed between said base plate and cross bolts, the lower wedge having a series of transverse grooves to receive the said bolts, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with alined rail ends, of fish-plates having lateral and downwardlyextended flanges which diverge laterally, cross-bolts connecting such divergent portions, and means arranged between the rail ends and the cross bolts, which serve, when the ends of the cross-bolts are tightened, to apply pressure upwardly and downwardly upon the rail ends, substantially as described.

HARRY C. BREl/VSTER. CHARLES A. DUTHERAGE. WALTER L. GLIDDEN.

Witnesses as to the signatures of Harry C. Brewster and Charles A. Dutherage:

J. F. SLATTERY, JOHN S. WELsI-L Witnesses as to the signature of Walter L. Glidden:

SOL-0N C. KEMON, AMos W. HART. 

